Disaster History 2010's

Jan 9, 2010:
Multi-Casualty Incident. A one vehicle late night rollover accident on Unser between King and Progress killed the driver and one passenger and sent three other passengers to the hospital with serious injuries.

May 23-24, 2010:
Wildfire. More than 100 firefighters from 9 agencies including 12 from Rio Rancho Fire Rescue battled a bosque fire just north of Alameda Road in Corrales; 24 acres burned. No homes destroyed although 140 people did evacuated; no injuries.

Jun 3-9, 2010:
Heat wave. Temperatures 8-18 degrees above normal nearly statewide. New temperature records in our area June 4, 5 and 6. June 5 became earliest date for 100 degrees in metro area and first time in history 100 degrees recorded in Santa Fe.

Aug 23, 2010:
Flash Flood/Sewage Spill. Storm dumped at least 1.89" rain in one hour in North Hills area. Both Northern and Unser Blvds closed by overflowing waters. Montoyas channel in this area widened by 60'-80' in some areas; 15" sewer main blown out and 250,00-600,000 gallons of raw sewage flowed into the channel before emergency repairs were completed. Additional damages elsewhere in the Montoyas, to Canyon Park in North Hills, and to two schools. Local declaration of disaster August 26 for estimated $600,000 in damages. State declaration received.

Feb 1-4, 2011:
Winter Storm. A monster winter storm stretching Arizona to New England engulfed the state.The 3"-7" of snow here was not the problem; bitter cold and life-threatening wind chills were the issue. New record lows Feb 2 & 3; low Feb 3 was -8 degrees and the record low high was only 9 degrees, the coldest temperatures in 50 years. On Feb 3, the lowest temperature in the nation (-38 degrees) was in New Mexico, 32 communities set new record lows, and 5 of those were all-time record lows (such as -34 degrees in Moriarty). Adjusted for wind chill, no location in New Mexico was above zero Feb 3. Record natural gas demand forced shutdown of service to 12 communities including Bernalillo, Placitas and Santa Ana Pueblo. Literally hundreds of local homes lost water due to frozen pipes; thousands state-wide. State declaration of disaster followed.

March 2011:
Census 2010 figures released, Rio Rancho population is up 69% from census 2000 to 87, 521.

Nov 17, 2011:
Multi-Casualty Incident. Rave concert at the Santa Ana Star Center. Throughout the course of the evening (9pm-2am) 6 people were transported to the hospital.

Dec 11, 2012:
Gas leak due to construction on Barbara Lp. 11 people, 3 cats and 4 dogs were evacuated from their apartments in the area. They were allowed to return to their homes later that day after the leak was fixed.

Sep 9-14, 2013:
Flash Flooding. The City received record-breaking rain-fall in mid-September resulting in washed out dirt roads through the City, as well as, a sewer line break. The Sports Complex that runs adjacent to the Los Montoyas Arroyo experienced damage due to the continued erosion of the maintenance road that runs along the arroyo. Loma Colorado Library and Aquatic Center parking lots were flooded with 6 inches to a foot of mud. Local declaration of disaster September 25 for estimated over $1,000,000.00 in damages. State and Federal declaration received.

NOTE: Items in bold are more serious incidents based on number and severity of injuries or dollar value of property damage. Two federal declarations of disaster for flash flooding (1999 and 2006) and two for drought (1996 and 2002). Twelve state declarations of disaster for flash flooding (1975, 1976, 1988, 1990, 1999, three in 2006, 2010 and 2013), four for drought (1996, 2000, 2002 and 2006) and two for winter storms (2006 and 2011).